Custom Android interfaces we've seen many of already. Some do contribute to the experience with the features they add, yet others simply fail to impress. The custom overlay we see on the Motorola RAZR i, running on top of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, is somewhere in between.

Among the things we like about it is the quite useful “Circles” widget, which displays a wide array of information, such as time, weather, battery level and missed calls, while occupying minimal screen space. Also, the lock screen is a bit more useful at it now holds shortcuts to the Camera, Phone, and Text messaging apps, in addition to switch toggling between loud and silent modes.

The UI of the Motorola RAZR i

Some features, however, we aren't quite fond of. For example, there's the Quick settings menu and all of its on/off toggles, available when you swipe left of the first home screen. It just doesn't feel like it belongs there. And then there's the way you add home screens by swiping right of the last home screen, as if users add new home screens on a daily basis. These two features should have been executed better.

Quick Settings

Adding a home screen page

Phonebook

There are two on-screen keyboards to choose from: the stock ICS one we know and love, with its voice input, auto-complete and auto-correct functionality, and Swype, for those who prefer alternative input methods. We can confirm that both of them work well, regardless of their orientation.

Software:

The Motorola DROID i comes with a handful of apps that some users might find quite handy. For starters, the Smart Action app allows experienced Android users to automate a number of actions, which can be executed when a certain event is triggered. For example, one can have their smartphone turn its ringer volume down at night, or switch off various connectivity features during times of the day when they are not needed, in order to preserve battery.

Smart Actions

The Guide Me app is for first-time smartphone owners who aren't yet fully familiar with what their device is capable of. It provides tutorials explaining how various of the Motorola RAZR i features work, kind of like a build-in user manual.

Guide Me app

Processor and memory:

The Motorola RAZR i is officially the first smartphone to reach the 2.0GHz milestone, thanks to its Intel Atom Z2460 processor, paired with a PowerVR SGX540 GPU and 1GB of RAM. It may be of the single-core kind, but it supports hyper-threading, which is Intel technology allowing one core to better perform multiple tasks at once.

Despite the outstanding clock frequency, the real-life performance delivered by the Atom chip is not anything out of this world, but it is still comparable to that of a modern dual-core SoC, such as the Snapdragon S4. The silicon manages to run demanding apps and games without breaking a sweat... most of the time. Frames being dropped while navigating through home screens and menus is not an entirely absent phenomenon, but thankfully, it happens only on rare occasions. Below you'll find the results that we got after testing the processor with several synthetic benchmark apps.

Quadrant Standard

AnTuTu

NenaMark 2

Motorola RAZR i

4237

6100

39.6

HTC One S

4867

7012

60.7

Samsung Galaxy S Advance

2796

5218

35.9

Samsung Galaxy Nexus

2000

5503

24

The Motorola RAZR i comes with 8GB of native storage, but only 5.26GB are available to the user. And no matter how we look at it, that isn't a whole lot. Therefore, some of you might need a microSD card, on which to store additional files. Cards of up to 32GB are supported by the device.

Web browser and connectivity:

The stock ICS web browser on the Motorola RAZR i gets the job done well as it loads pages quickly and retains its responsiveness even when browsing heavy web sites. Features such as pinch-to-zoom and tap-to-zoom work as intended. There's also a way to save pages for offline reading, to open multiple tabs, and to surf the internet without being tracked by using Incognito mode. There is no Adobe Flash pre-installed, but embedded YouTube videos are still playable.

As far as connectivity goes, you can rely on HSDPA+ at up to 21.1 Mbps on the downlink or Wi-Fi for connecting to the internet. The usual set of additional connectivity features is also present, namely Bluetooth, GPS, and NFC. The smartphone can be connected to a PC using the microUSB cable that comes in the set.

You got it wrong buddy...both cores work
together to hit the 1.5ghz mark. It don't mean a
single core has that much clock-work...
You remind me of me when i didn't know much
about dual cores working together, lol.

You both got it wrong... There are so many performance deciding components inside a CPU, like bandwidth of data pipes, memory interface, scheduling, multi-threading logic, codec support, addressing... and much more.

What I'm trying to say is, please don't compare CPUs purely on freq. Only tool that can compare is a wide set of benchmarks. And if the platforms are different then that's the absolute necessity.

Man.. again this isn't a comparison. OS performs equally imp role on this as well. Yeah, but if we can run benchmarks after installing a same OS on both platfoms then we can definitely judge the power of the chip.

I really hate it when people try to say that a 250+ppi is not acceptable in real life. SRSLY? we don't use our phones with microscope in our eyes. we use it not that close enough to notice these pixelation we're talking about.

and saying a thing like "a resolution of 540 by 960 pixels (qHD). That seems more than acceptable on paper, but in reality, a certain amount of pixelation is present in text and detailed graphics throughout the interface since a PenTile pixel arrangement is in use and the pixel density is average at 256 ppi."

I think that you're talking the other way around. It's acceptable in reality but not on paper. Sure, an HD screen is better than this, if you really look close enough to see the difference. But that's just being ridiculous. They should have not invented the zoom function if that's what we really care about, a readable small text.

It's not acceptable either way. I was thinking about getting the One S which has a similar screen but cannot stand the fuzzy images, text, or icons. 256ppi wold be great but I'm quite happy with my 480x800 4" display (233ppi) on my phone which seems way sharper than a pentile display. You may like it, but there are those who hate it as well.

Matter of personal taste.... I agree sony's interface looks sophisticated than the others. Kind of suitable for business lifestyle. But still a little dull for me. I like the live tiles of WP! Again I should remind.. just a matter of personal taste.

Perfect form factor and excellent battery life. Despite being a bit of a geek, this was the first smartphone I've bought, because it ticks all the boxes that no other smartphones have so far.

Unfortunately there is a flaw in the handset that completely lets it down for me. The problem is high levels of hiss / interference when a speaker is connected to the 3.5mm jack while audio is not playing. There is also an unpleasant thump when the audio output turns on (i.e. immediately prior to playing audio) or off (a few moments after audio output is stopped).

The hiss/EM interference noise reduces significantly immediately before and after playing audio i.e. seems to go down to an acceptable level once audio chip is taken out of 'sleep' mode.

This happens regardless of whether the device is connected to wall socket. I tried various things - temporarily disabling MusicFX app and doing a factory reset – no luck unfortunately.

I have had the issue now with two handsets, both from Handtec (who have been excellent in terms of dealing with my return promptly and fairly). Currently I suspect this is an issue affecting all Razri handsets, unless someone can confirm otherwise?

I am sending mine back for a full refund. If Motorola fix the issue and someone is able to confirm that it's been resolved, I'll buy it.

If you are one of those people who would never connect your phone to anything except cheap earphones, and you're not fussed about audio quality when playing through speakers/decent headphones, I can strongly recommend this phone.

Hello eisenbricher.
nice to see that u are well imformed about smartphone tech systems. Pls, i have some questions if you can help clear my doubts. However any other guy out here can help me as well. i want to get either this phone, Mototorola RAZR i or it's sibling, the Razr M (not Maxx). My questions are specifically about web browsing, Call reception signal, audio quality on the loud speaker and not those frivolities like fotos, videos etc.

1.0 HTC's are noted for automatic page reflows once it is zoomed. Is it same with Razr i or Razr M? yes or no.
2.0 Also in htc's, after a page reflows on zooming, double tapping the same page makes page reflows again hence making the text font larger. is same with these RAZRes?
3.0 Is the screen readable in direct sunlight?
4.0 Finally, can i quite converse with someone when put on speaker (i.e hands off)?

My main reasons for wanting either of the RAZRs is their shear smaller size and acceptable battery life. My best would have been RAZR XT910 but IT IS EXCEPTIONALLY LARGE. THANKING YOU IN ADVANCE. HOPE I GET A REPLY SOON.

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